DID YOU READ

“Exiled.”

If "Election" and "Triad Election" were Johnny To‘s succinct Hong Kong slant on the "Godfather" trilogy, "Exiled" is his luxuriant, entertaining Sergio Leone riff, set in a 1998 Macau preparing for its handover back to the PRC. Years ago, Wo (Nick Cheung) tried to assassinate Triad boss Fay (Simon Yam) and was forced to flee when he failed. His return draws four of his old colleagues out, two, Blaze (Anthony Wong) and Fat (Lam Suet), arriving with the orders to kill him, and two, Tai (Francis Ng) and Cat (Roy Cheung), hoping to protect him. There seems to be more backstory than that, but you get what you can from quick exchanges between gunfire â€” "Exiled" is a film content to leave its characters’ motivations to be inferred while keeping its outrageous gun battles fully articulated in slow-mo and blood that explodes like bursts of powder into the air. The first unfolds before we have any chance to figure out what’s going on â€” four hitmen gathering in a courtyard outside of Wo’s house, exchanging silent acknowledgments and glowering through sunglasses before leaping into a skirmish that kicks doors up through the air but leaves everyone, miraculously, unhurt. The revelation that Wo now has a wife and child gives everyone pause, and while they figure out what to do, the five move furniture into the house, have a raucous dinner and reminisce about when they were all young gangsters together. Wo has to die, it’s decided, but before he does perhaps they can do one last job to get him some money to leave his wife and child.

As in last year’s "Triad Election," the shadow of China looms over "Exiled" with a "party’s over" vibe. To’s gangsters, laconic in suits and cigarettes, have triangle standoffs, shootouts in restaurants and a chance at stealing, of all things, gold, but they’re fast running out of wild west to revel in, and when they find themselves having to flee town, they decide on a direction with a coin toss â€” it doesn’t really matter.

After the ruthlessness with which the "Triad" films demolished the mythology of brotherhood amongst criminals, the genuine, goofy allegiance and fondness "Exiled"’s hitmen have for each other is welcome, if shot through with melancholy. The weary criminals aren’t the only ones indulging in nostalgia â€” the whole film evinces a wistfulness for the type of melodramatic, bombastic shoot ’em up John Woo put on the map, in which loyalty and honor were loyalty and honor, and a man could jump through the air shooting two guns in slow motion without provoking snickers or eye rolls. The gun battles are the best part of To’s film, which, despite its refreshingly tender treatment of male friendship, seems attenuated otherwise, the pensive final chapter of some longer epic that was never made. When the bullets fly, though, it’s riveting and just as often funny, To adding enough winking touches (a doctor struggling to sew up one man’s groin wound as he shoots at targets through a window, a get-away vehicle that has to be pushed to a start, "Little Miss Sunshine" style) to chase away the ghosts of Hong Kong action films past.

Reminders that the ’90s were a thing

Unless you stopped paying attention to the world at large in 1989, you are of course aware that the ’90s are having their pop cultural second coming. Nobody is more acutely aware of this than Dara Katz and Betsy Kenney, two comedians who met doing improv comedy and have just made their Comedy Crib debut with the hilarious ’90s TV throwback series, The Place We Live.

IFC: How would you describe “The Place We Live” to a fancy network executive you just met in an elevator?

Dara: It’s everything you loved–or loved to hate—from Melrose Place and 90210 but condensed to five minutes, funny (on purpose) and totally absurd.

IFC: How would you describe “The Place We Live” to a drunk friend of a friend you met in a bar?

Betsy: “Hey Todd, why don’t you have a sip of water. Also, I think you’ll love The Place We Live because everyone has issues…just like you, Todd.”

IFC: When you were living through the ’90s, did you think it was television’s golden age or the pop culture apocalypse?

Betsy: I wasn’t sure I knew what it was, I just knew I loved it!

Dara: Same. Was just happy that my parents let me watch. But looking back, the ’90s honored The Teen. And for that, it’s the golden age of pop culture.

IFC: Which ’90s shows did you mine for the series, and why?

Betsy: Melrose and 90210 for the most part. If you watch an episode of either of those shows you’ll see they’re a comedic gold mine. In one single episode, they cover serious crimes, drug problems, sex and working in a law firm and/or gallery, all while being young, hot and skinny.

Dara: And almost any series we were watching in the ’90s, Full House, Saved By the Bell, My So Called Life has very similar themes, archetypes and really stupid-intense drama. We took from a lot of places.

IFC: How would you describe each of the show’s characters in terms of their ’90s TV stereotype?

Dara: Autumn (Sunita Mani) is the femme fatale. Robin (Dara Katz) is the book worm (because she wears glasses). Candace (Betsy Kenney) is Corey’s twin and gives great advice and has really great hair. Corey (Casey Jost) is the boy next door/popular guy. Candace and Corey’s parents decided to live in a car so the gang can live in their house. Lee (Jonathan Braylock) is the jock.

IFC: Why do you think the world is ready for this series?

Dara: Because everyone’s feeling major ’90s nostalgia right now, and this is that, on steroids while also being a totally new, silly thing.

Delight in the whole season of The Place We Live right now on IFC’s Comedy Crib. It’ll take you back in all the right ways.

Whips, Chains and Hand Sanitizer

Jenny Jaffe has a lot going on: She’s writing for Disney’s upcoming Big Hero 6: The Series, developing comedy projects with pals at Devastator Press, and she’s straddling the line between S&M and OCD as the creator and star of the sexyish new series Neurotica, which has just made its debut on IFC’s Comedy Crib. Jenny gave us some extremely intimate insight into what makes Neurotica (safely) sizzle…

IFC: How would you describe Neurotica to a fancy network executive you met in an elevator?

Jenny: Neurotica is about a plucky Dominatrix with OCD trying to save her small-town dungeon.

IFC: How would you describe Neurotica to a drunk friend of a friend you met in a bar?

Jenny: Neurotica is about a plucky Dominatrix with OCD trying to save her small-town dungeon. You’re great. We should get coffee sometime. I’m not just saying that. I know other people just say that sometimes but I really feel like we’re going to be friends, you know? Here, what’s your number, I’ll call you so you can have my number!

IFC: What’s your comedy origin story?

Jenny: Since I was a kid I’ve dealt with severe OCD and anxiety. Comedy has always been one of the ways I’ve dealt with that. I honestly just want to help make people feel happy for a few minutes at a time.

IFC: What was the genesis of Neurotica?

Jenny: I’m pretty sure it was a title-first situation. I was coming up with ideas to pitch to a production company a million years ago (this isn’t hyperbole; I am VERY old) and just wrote down “Neurotica”; then it just sort of appeared fully formed. “Neurotica? Oh it’s an over-the-top romantic comedy about a Dominatrix with OCD, of course.” And that just happened to hit the buttons of everything I’m fascinated by.

Jenny: You can use any of their locations but you’ll always forget you have a membership and in a year you’ll be like “jeez why won’t they let me just cancel?”

IFC: Mouths are gross! Why is that?

Jenny: If you had never seen a mouth before and I was like “it’s a wet flesh cave with sharp parts that lives in your face”, it would sound like Cronenberg-ian body horror. All body parts are horrifying. I’m kind of rooting for the singularity, I’d feel way better if I was just a consciousness in a cloud.

Thoughts like those are normal. After all, we tend to remember lasting psychological trauma more vividly than fleeting joy. But if you dig deep, you’ll rediscover that the ’90s gave us so much to fondly revisit. Consider the four pillars of true ’90s culture.

Boy Bands

We all pretended to hate them, but watch us come alive at a karaoke bar when “I Want It That Way” comes on. Arguably more influential than Brit Pop and Grunge put together, because hello – Justin Timberlake. He’s a legitimate cultural gem.

Man-Child Movies

Adam Sandler is just behind The Simpsons in terms of his influence on humor. Somehow his man-child schtick didn’t get old until the aughts, and his success in that arena ushered in a wave of other man-child movies from fellow ’90s comedians. RIP Chris Farley (and WTF Rob Schneider).

Teen Angst

In horror, dramas, comedies, and everything in between: Troubled teens! Getting into trouble! Who couldn’t relate to their First World problems, plaid flannels, and lose grasp of the internet?

Mainstream Nihilism

From the Coen Bros to Fincher to Tarantino, filmmakers on the verge of explosive popularity seemed interested in one thing: mind f*cking their audiences by putting characters in situations (and plot lines) beyond anyone’s control.

Feeling better about that walk down memory lane? Good. Enjoy the revival.